Retinopathy of prematurity: a prospective study. Review at six months.

A cohort of infants of birthweight < or = 1700 g studied prospectively for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) has been reviewed at 6 months corrected age and the findings related to the neonatal data. The overall incidence of strabismus was 6.4% (30/468), rising from 3.1% (7/229) without ROP to 29.2% (7/24) with stage 3. Strabismus and fusional ability were significantly related to presence and severity of ROP, and abnormal neonatal cranial ultrasound findings. Binocular visual acuity was measured in 340 infants between 20 and 40 weeks corrected age. Eight were subnormal, all due to neurological problems. For the remainder, despite falling within the normal range, there was a significant trend (p < 0.001) for lower acuities with increasing ROP severity. Cycloplegic refraction on 387 infants revealed, with increasing ROP severity: 1, a significant trend towards myopia; 2, increased magnitude of astigmatism; 3, alteration of the astigmatic axis; 4, increased incidence of anisometropia. For the first three categories there was an insignificant trend between no ROP and stage 2, reaching significance only between stage 2 and 3. The predominant axis of astigmatism in infants without ROP was between 60 degrees and 120 degrees, but with ROP there was a significant trend away from this direction.